1. Field of the Invention
A certain aspect of this disclosure relates to a device management system including a device management apparatus and a managed device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a known device management system including an image processing device (hereafter called a managed device) such as a multifunction peripheral (MFP) or a printer and a device management apparatus (device management server) for monitoring the status of the managed device via a data communication channel such as a network. Such a device management system enables a user to detect an error or failure of a managed device without going to the location where the managed device is installed.
In a typical device management system, a device management apparatus provides a device management service (device management function) through a process as described below. For example, the device management apparatus periodically obtains device information from a managed device using communication protocols such as simple network management protocol (SNMP) and simple object access protocol (SOAP). The obtained device information is stored in a storage unit of the device management apparatus. The device management apparatus detects a status change of the managed device based on the stored device information, and reports the status change to an administrator and/or performs a remote control on the managed device according to a predetermined device management policy.
Apparently, to improve the device management service of the device management system (e.g., for efficient use and speedy maintenance of devices), the device management apparatus is preferably configured to obtain as many types of device information as possible from the managed device.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-197828 discloses a device management apparatus that when receiving a request for a device information item, obtains the requested device information item from a communication device based on a correspondence table associating available device information items with communication protocols and provides the obtained device information item to the requester. Thus, the disclosed device management apparatus obtains a device information item from a corresponding information source (communication protocol).
However, with the configuration disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-197828, only device information provided via existing communication protocols can be obtained.
For example, with SNMP, it is not possible to obtain the word length indicating the power consumption level in a given power supply mode of a managed device. Also with SNMP, it is not possible to obtain the serial number of an external device (or a connected device) such as a finisher connected to a multifunction peripheral.